Let me rephrase: I have websites like that. Is not a MYTH.
is a complete waste of time in my opinion.
I would say both. But more important is to build deep links!
and you don't need to update your website regularly to do well. I know websites that were not changed for years and years and you can't beat em,...
1. Is my web hosting reliable and my website online most of the time? If is not, no point in checking anything on your website :)
there are many ways of increasing your backlinks and no, link exchanging days are not over yet!
Separate names with a comma.